Victor Lownes - Film Production

Film Production

Lownes was the executive producer for And Now For Something Completely Different, the first Monty Python film. He was a fan and proposed the idea of a film specifically designed to introduce the British comedy troupe to a US audience. He was very egotistical. According to Terry Gilliam, Victor Lownes insisted on getting an animated executive producer credit equal in size to those of the group members. Gilliam refused and so Lownes had the credit made elsewhere at his own cost. Gilliam then created a different style of credit for the Pythons so Lownes' credit is the only one that appears in this way.

Lownes was out partying with Roman Polanski when his wife Sharon Tate was murdered by the Manson Family in August 1969. Later Lownes persuaded Hefner to provide $1,500,000 to finance Polanski's first film since the murder through Playboy when no other movie studio would touch it. Macbeth was influenced heavily by his experiences. Polanski proceeded to go $600,000 over budget and then mock Playboy's generosity. Lownes' friendship with Polanski was at an end. Angrily, he returned a cherished gift to Polanski, the life-sized gold penis Polanski had modeled for during happier days. Lownes wrote that "I'm sure you'll have no difficulty finding some friend you can shove it up".